The Forgotten Luther: On Politics

“When we begin to attend as a community to public issues, we exercise faith practices that embody our understanding of the gospel, witness to the world our public commitments, and communicate a different way of being a church.”

Amy Reumann, Director of ELCA Advocacy
When should the church support the state’s agenda? When should it resist? What are the options for critical but constructive cooperation? 

What did the founder of the Lutheran tradition, Martin Luther, teach about these questions? The Forgotten Luther II explores these questions.

Anthony Bateza, Ph.D., is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and assistant professor of religion at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. This interview was recorded during the “Forgotten Luther II Symposium” held at Lutheran Church of the Reformation in Washington, DC, January 19-20, 2018. This video is provided by ELCA World Hunger, a ministry of the ELCA. Dr. Bateza’s full presentation from the symposium was published in The Forgotten Luther II: Reclaiming the Church’s Public Witness (2019), available from Fortress Press. To purchase the book, please visit fortresspress.com/forgottenlutherii.

Wanda Deifelt, Ph.D., is professor of religion at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, and an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brazil. This interview was recorded during the “Forgotten Luther II Symposium” held at Lutheran Church of the Reformation in Washington, DC, January 19-20, 2018. This video is provided by ELCA World Hunger, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA.) Dr. Deifelt’s full presentation from the symposium was published in The Forgotten Luther II: Reclaiming the Church’s Public Witness (2019), available from Fortress Press. To purchase the book, please visit fortresspress.com/forgottenlutherii.

Kirsi Stjerna, Ph.D., is the First Lutheran, Los Angeles/Southwest Synod Professor of Lutheran History and Theology at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary of California Lutheran University in Berkeley, Calif. This video is provided by ELCA World Hunger, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA.) Dr. Stjerna’s full presentation from the symposium was published in The Forgotten Luther II: Reclaiming the Church’s Public Witness (2019), available from Fortress Press. To purchase the book, please visit fortresspress.com/forgottenlutherii.